Clipper-sharpening machine.



PATENTED'YDBG. 24, 1907.

E. J. GOULD. CLIPPER SHARPENING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4, 1906.

Illl II II Illlllllllll "llllllll IlII IIIJIIIHHI IHH M llllll/flllllllll llll IIIIIHHIIIIHHI[Hlllllllllllll fllllHl I Witnesses .To all whom it may concern:

UNITED J STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN J GOULD, OF BOULDER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF OlfIE-HALF TO THOMAS E. SAWDEY,

OF BOULDER, COLORADO.

cmrrnn-smarnmne mscnmn.

Be it known that I, EDWIN J. GOU D, acitizen of the United States, residing in the city of Boulder, county of Boulder, State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Clipper-Sharpening Machine, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in clipper sharpeners, and its object is to provide a sim lo and efficient means whereby the blades 0 a clipper of the reciprocatingtype'may be readily shar ened witho'ut afiecting the true relation 0 the blades one to the other.

The invention comprises essentially a sharpeningv member with parallel faces,

' .adaptedto be introduced, between the blades of the clipper so that the blade to be sharpened hasa relative reciprocatory movement across the sharpening plate and is at the same time held 111 true parallelism with the blade which is not at the moment being sharpened. When one blade has been duly sharpened the sharpening plate is removed and another plate of similarcharacter is so placed as to have a relative lnoyement with respect to the unsharpenedblade, so that the latter is subjected to the sharpening action and is still kept in parallelism with the already sharpened blade.

Since in clippers as ordinarily formed one blade is stationary and the other blade reclprocates over the same, it'is customary to use two sharpening plates, one of which is long enough to extend over the stationary blade and isprovided with end flanges grasp- I ing the sides of the stationary blade so as to j' lelism with the stationary blade.

be held in immovable relation thereto, while the reciprocating blade is caused to move over the sharpening plate in the same manner that it moves over the fixed blade in the normal operation of'th'e device, and since the two faces of the sharpening plate are made strictly parallel the sharpened edge of the reciprocating blade remains in strict paral- Now,

when it is desired to sharpen the stationary blade a sharpening plate of proper length,

with its ends upturnedto grasp the sides of the reciprocating blade, is introduced between the two blades and-then the clippers Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 4, 1906. Serial No. 333.246.

' Patented De a s, 1907.

are operated in the ordinary manner, causing the sharpening plate to reciprocate over. the fixed blade, while the two blades are still maintained in strict parallelism.

While not necessarily confined to the use of aluminium as the material of the sharpene ing plate, still I find that it answers the purpose very satisfactorily.

The invention. will from the following detailed description,

taken in-connection with the accompanying be iully understood.

drawing forming part of this specification, in

which, 1 I

Figure 1.is a plan view 'of'so much of a clipperas is necessary for the understanding of the invention, showing a sharpening plate in operative relation to the reciprocating blade; Fig. 2 is an endview of the structure shown in Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a similar end View of the structure shown in Fig. 1, but with a sharpening plate adapted to operate on the fixed blade and Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views of the sharpening plates.

usual manner, while the reciprocating blade 3 is held between the fixed blade 2 and the body 1 andis caused to reciprocate by suitable. mechanism which for the purposes of the present invention it is not necessary either to show or describe, since such mechanism forms no part of the present invention and may be of any well known construc tion. It is, of'course, necessary that clippers of this type should be kept in a high state of shar ness, so that their cutting edges act as readil as the cutting edge of a razor blade. The action, however, of these clipper devices is similar to that of a shear; 1 n other words, the cut is a shear cut. It is therefore necessary that the coacting faces of the stationary and reciprocating cutters should be always in exact parallelism and in body ofthe device and are ground separately upon a stone or other means of shar ening it is a difficult matter to maintain t e parallelism of the cutting edges of the blades so that when again assembled all parts of the shearing edges of the blades will coact at all times. In order to avoid this difficulty and to prevent any danger of destroying the proper relation between the blades, there is provided by the present invention sharpening plates having their faces parallel and arranged to be introduced between the fixed and movable blades, which are purposely separated to receive such plates. Under these conditions the two blades are held in the same relation one to the other, except for their separation, necessary for the introduction of the sharpening plate, that they have when in use. The consequence is that when being sharpened the parallelism of the cutting portions of the blades is not in any wise disturbed and when the blades are again brought into operative relation one to the other their cutting portions still coact in the same manner in which they did before the sharpening plate was introduced.

In order to provide for the sharpening of both blades under the conditions mentioned there are provided two sharpening plates 7 and 8, shown separately in Figs. 4 and 5 respectively. These plates are made sufficiently wide to correspond to the depth of the reci rocating blade 3 from the toothed endto t e back of said blade, so that when introduced between the blades the'sharpening late will have the same support on the fixe blade that is provided for the reciprocating blade. At-each end each plate 7 and 8 is provided with flanges 9 extendin from one face thereof at right angles to sue face, while the other face, which, as will presently appear, constitutes the sharpening face, is left perfectly plain without projection. The

plate 7 is provided with a central through perforation 10, circular in outline, while the plate 8 is provided with a central through perforation 11, elliptical in outline or, more properly, in the form of a slot the long diameter of which is lengthwise of the plate; I

The plate 7 is of such length that when placed upon the stationary blade 2 its flanges 9 will embrace the two sides of the stationary blade, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and\t he.

hole or perforation 10 is in place to receive the bolt 4. When the plate 7 has been lacedl as described the blade 3 is then place upon the upper surface thereof and the body of the cli per is appliedand the Whole structure is he d together by the nut '5 the same as though the clipper were tobe used for cutting hair. Now, by operating the clipper in the same manner as thou h it were in normal operation the blade 3 1s caused to reciprocate over the surface of the sharpening plate 7 with such pressure as may be applied by the nut 5 bearing upon the. spring 6. Since the two surfaces of the plate 7 are in parallelism and the plate is so made as to lie truly upon the fixed blade 2, the reciprocating blade 3 is acted upon by the plate in such manner as to be sharpened thereby and still retain the same relation to the cutting face of the fixed blade that it had before shar ening. In other words, the strict relation 0 the cutting faces of the two blades is in no wise disturbed by the introduction of the sharpening plate 7.

hen the reciprocating blade has been suitably sharpened the plate 7 is removed and the plate 8 is placed between the blades. This plate, however, is shorter than the late 7 so that the flanges 9 embrace the si es of the reciprocating blade 3, while the bolt 4 passes through the elongated slot 11. Now, when the clipper is operated after the manner of its normal operation the plate 8 is constrained to move with the blade 3, and, consequently, acts upon the lower blade 2 to sharpen the same, but the parallelism of the blades is still maintained because the'faces of the plate 8 are perfectly flat and parallel. Assuming, now, that the sharpening action on each blade has been sufficient, the two blades and the other parts of the cli ping de- Vice are again assembled, so that t e newly sharpened edges are brought into proper relation for cutting. It will be found that these edges have the same true area of contact that they had when first constructed and assembled, and that aside from the fact that the cutting edges have been sharpened.

and therefore'act with increased ease, the operation of the device is the same as it was before the blades were sharpened. In other words, the sharpening of the blades has not in any manner impaired the operation of the clipper, as is so often the case when the blades are removed from a clipper and separately sharpened and then again assemble In the practical embodiment of my inven-. tion it is, broadly speaking, immaterial what substance the lates 7 and 8 are made of, but I have foundt at aluminium gives most excellent results, and, therefore, prefer that said plates be made of aluminium.

I claim p p 1.. A sharpening means for clippers having parallel bladesconsisting of a p ate having parallel faces and end flanges, one of the faces being adapted to lie against the cutting face of one of the blades with the end flanges embracing the sides of said blades to prevent movement of the plate with relation to said blade and with the other face engaging and relatively movable over the cutting face of the other blade.

2. A sharpening means for clippers having parallel blades consisting of an aluminium in relatively movable relation to the other plate having parallel faces adapted to lie beblade.

tween the cutting faces of the blades of the Signed this 30th day of August 1906. clipper when the blades are still assembled 1 U EDWIN J. GOULD.

5 but separated suflicient for the purpose, said Inthe presence oflate being provided with means for holdin EDWIN J. INGRAM,

- -1t in immovable relation to one blade an GEORGE T. JONES. 

